PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — It’s the Maine one, not the main one — a 208-year-old, Maine-based publication that farmers, gardeners and others have relied on for planting guidance and weather predictions will publish for the final time. The Farmers Almanac, not to be confused with its older, longtime competitor, The Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New […]
Maine
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Hurricane Lee is charting a new course in weather and could signal more monster storms
By JEFF MARTIN Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Hurricane Lee is rewriting old rules of meteorology, leaving experts astonished at how rapidly it grew into a goliath Category 5 hurricane. Lee — which just as quickly dropped to a still-dangerous Category 3 and held that strength Saturday — could still be a harbinger as ocean temperatures climb, […]
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Maine may pay lobster fishers to test new gear as whale protection rules loom
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Lawmakers in Maine are getting behind a drive to pay lobster fishers to comply with potential new fishing regulations. Lobster and crab fishermen face the prospect of tough new rules designed to protect vanishing North Atlantic right whales. The rules would require harvesters to use new kinds of gear, and change when and […]
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Space race! Meteorites hit Maine, museum offers $25K reward
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Somewhere in a remote stretch of forest near Maine’s border with Canada, rocks from space crashed to Earth and may be scattered across the ground — just waiting to be picked up. If you’re the first person to find a big one, a museum says it’ll pay out a $25,000 reward. […]
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Acadia National Park increases entry fees effective Saturday
BAR HARBOR, Maine (AP) — The National Park Service approved the first entrance fee increase in five years for Acadia National Park, officials said Tuesday. Much of the fee increase effective Saturday will give a boost to the Island Explorer bus system, which is critical to addressing traffic congestion in the park, and other projects […]
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Student hurt when tractor-trailer hits school bus
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Police are investigating a crash in which a tractor-trailer struck a school bus Tuesday, sending an injured student to a hospital. The bus was stopped when the tractor-trailer struck it from behind just before 8 a.m. Tuesday in Portland, police said. One student had injuries that were not life threatening and […]
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New England’s biggest dog sled race has a female victor
FORT KENT, Maine (AP) — The first woman mushed her way to victory across 250 miles (400 kilometers) of wilderness in northern Maine, making history in the 30th Can-Am Crown. Katherine Langlais, 39, of Glenwood, New Brunswick, called it a “dream” after crossing the finish line with her dog sled team on Monday. Langlais, who […]
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Maine lobstermen have slower year amid industry challenges
ROCKPORT, Maine (AP) — Fishers of Maine lobster, one of the most lucrative seafood species in the U.S., had a smaller haul during a year in which the industry battled surging fuel and bait prices, rebukes from key retailers and the looming possibility of new fishing restrictions. Maine lobster has exploded in value in recent […]
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Bill to control outdoor cats met with outstretched claws
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A bill to make Maine’s animal trespass law apply to cats swiftly ran up against opposition from cat lovers on Monday. Herding cats, it turns out, may be simpler than getting people to agree on how to keep them from roaming and killing birds. Rep. Vicki Doudera took great pains to point […]
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Mainer who swung pole at Capitol police charged
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A Maine man who swung a pole at law enforcement officers defending the U.S. Capitol is facing federal charges. Christopher Maurer, 45, made an initial court appearance Wednesday after being charged with seven counts including civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon. He was […]
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Winner comes forward to claim $1.35B Mega Millions jackpot
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The winner of a $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot — the fourth largest in U.S. history — has come forward to collect the prize, state officials said Wednesday. The winner had been a mystery, and remains a mystery. The Maine State Lottery said the winner chose to remain anonymous and collect […]
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Maine requests disaster declaration for December storm
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Democratic Gov. Janet Mills requested a federal disaster declaration for seven Maine counties for damage from a wild December storm that left tens of thousands of people in the dark for Christmas. The storm caused coastal flooding and road washouts, wind damage and power outages, and other problems, she wrote Thursday […]
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Maine Senate swiftly confirms justice to state supreme court
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Senate acted swiftly to confirm to the state supreme court a judge who was responsible for innovations in drug treatment and mental health cases. The Senate voted 26-1 Thursday to confirm Justice Wayne Douglas to the Supreme Judicial Court in the first floor session since his nomination was advanced […]
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Fire marshal nominee, MDEA director named by commissioner
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Department of Public Safety is nominating the assistant fire marshal to lead the agency and tapping the Maine Criminal Justice Academy director to lead the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency. Rick Desjardins will serve as the next MDEA director and Rich McCarthy will serve as fire marshal if his nomination is […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Legal sizes for lobsters could change to protect population
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The rules about the minimum and maximum sizes of lobsters that can be trapped off New England could soon become stricter, potentially bringing big changes to one of the most valuable seafood industries in the country. Fishers are required to measure lobsters from eyes to tail and must throw back the […]
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Lawmakers using spending bill to delay lobster restrictions
By DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine’s congressional delegation is using the $1.7 trillion federal spending bill to try to delay for six years new protections for endangered whales to protect Maine’s lobster industry. The amendment would leave existing lobster fishing regulations in place for the time being, thwarting new restrictions aimed at protecting North […]
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Maine woman sentenced to 47 years in death of 3-year-old son
BELFAST,Maine (AP) — A Maine woman convicted in the fatal beating of her 3-year-old son — a crime that led to child welfare reforms in the state — was sentenced to 47 years in prison on Tuesday. Jessica Trefethen, 36, of Stockton Springs, was convicted of depraved indifference murder in the death of her son, […]
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Historic windjammer in Maine is going to be sold
BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A three-masted schooner that’s on the National Register of Historic Places is up for sale. The Victory Chimes’ owner announced this will be the final season for the windjammer that’s so synonymous with Maine that the 2003 state quarter featured a sailing vessel modeled after the schooner. Capt. Sam Sikkema said […]
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High number of seal deaths off Maine linked to bird flu, feds say
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — An unusual number of seals are becoming stranded and dying off Maine this summer, and avian influenza is to blame, the federal government said Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that samples from four Maine seals tested positive for the virus. The animals all died or required euthanasia, the […]
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Adoptions another facet of life halted by war in Ukraine
LEEDS, Maine (AP) — The ripple effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have been devastating for families of all kinds — including those who have seen their prospective adoptions put on hold. Ukraine was once one of the U.S.’s most frequent partners on international adoptions, but the war changed all that: The embattled country has halted all […]
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Maine removes LGBTQ teaching video assailed in Republican ad
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Department of Education removed from its website a video containing an LGBTQ lesson plan for kindergarten students that was the subject of a Republican ad targeting Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. The ad, which first aired Wednesday, accused the governor of spending $2.8 million to create “radical school lessons” aimed […]
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Maine moose survey finds record high death rate from ticks
MONSON, Maine (AP) — Infestations of ticks contributed to a record high death rate for young moose tracked by wildlife managers in rural Maine. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife collared 70 moose calves in remote parts of the state last winter and 60 of them had died by the beginning of May, Maine […]
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Native fish returns to Maine lake after two-century absence
CHINA, Maine (AP) — A species of fish has returned to a central Maine lake for the first time in generations. Alewives, a kind of herring, reached China Lake this month, WMTW-TV reported on Wednesday. That hasn’t happened since the Revolutionary War era, the station reported. Alewives return to Maine rivers from the ocean. However, dams […]
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3rd faculty senate rebukes UMS Chancellor Malloy
FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) — Faculty on a third University of Maine System campus gave a vote of no confidence to Chancellor Dannel Malloy. The faculty senate at the University of Maine at Farmington delivered the rebuke Wednesday after the elimination of nine staff positions amid declining enrollment at the campus in the western part of […]
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Starbucks in Maine is first in state to announce union plan
BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Workers at a Starbucks store in Maine became the first in the state to announce their intent to unionize on Friday. The six employees at the Biddeford store joined workers at dozens of Starbucks locations around the country who have sought to unionize. The employees filed an election petition with the National […]